It's a shadow through my days.
Stranger standing in the rain
soaked alleyway.
Pistol smoke rising with the steam
like an early morning dream;
Sun caked and mean.

This highway is a lie
your rearview a fools perspective
the tires make the sound of nothing
the engine brings you nowhere
your home is a backpack
suitcased and slapdashed
crashed out on the interstate
free to go your way

when i boarded the plane
didn't know if you'd last through the flight
if you had i'd conceded
to put up one hell of a fight
so when i saw you standing there i threw up my hands
and lord i swear i tried
i'm all for lost causes and heartache
just not this time

theres something in mountains
and something in praries
makes em not quite what they seem
there's something in loneliness
seeps itself into
everything i believe
the dark side of moonlight
that loosens the leaves from the trees
deposits of ashes, misrepresented dreams

So when I was out past davisville

the last time i missed that right
landed back by the little church
where we turned around one time
and the essence of everything
you said burned in my mind
You gave up the ghost, but persisted
to prove you were right.

vagabond bag-a-bones

Last night I heard you died
With a needle in your hide
Never did quite get it right, did ya kid?

And your mom she had that car
Parked out in the barn
Covered in a tarp
Slowly rusting

And we talked a lot of times
About getting out alive
and then one night
you took it to the wire
and you didn't

Now you're just a bag of bones
Just a ghost without a home
Another one who died alone
Looking for an answer

And if I had been there
to pull that plunger clear
whisper life back into the air
Set you to breathing

last night I heard you died
With a needle in your hide
Never did quite get it right
did ya kid?